Opera Santa Barbara

Overview:

Opera Santa Barbara's 2010-11 Season began with a gala concert with Metropolitan Opera star Patricia Racette on November 21. It continues with a sumptuous new production of Verdi's "La Traviata" on March 4 and 6 at The Granada theatre, that will be directed by OSB's new Artistic Director, Jose Maria Condemi. The final production will feature the Resident Artists of San Francisco Opera in a double-bill of Leonard Bernstein's bittersweet satire, "Trouble in Tahiti" paired with a comic opera. Pergolesi's "La Serva Padrona" written 200 years before Bernstein's 1954 opus. Both operas deal with the role of women in domestic life. These one-act operas will be staged at the intimate Lobero Theatre. Tickets for all productions range from $23 to $150. Tickets can be purchased online at the Granada: 805.899.2222 or Granadasb.org, or the Lobero Theatre: 805.963.0761 or Lobero.com.

This season Opera Santa Barbara launched "The Opera Lab," an exciting new educational outreach program for youth, in which four specially-trained opera singers visit schools and invite students to create their very own opera, which the singers improvised on the spot. Enthusiastic response from students and teachers gives a good indication that this will have a long life in OSB's educational mix of programs.

Opera On the Go! Lecture series for adults continues this season with the following roster of fascinating topics: October 20- The Director's Craft, with Jose Maria Condemi; November 10 - Women with a Past in Opera with Simon Williams; January 12 - Opera in Film with Mashey Bernstein; February 16 - Opera Buffa with Simon Williams ; March 16 - Leonard Bernstein; Arpil 6 - Training the Operatic Voice with Sheri Greenawald; May 11, Reinventing Opera, Reinventing Ourselves with Peter Kazaras. Lectures are $15/ $12 season subscribers/$5 students and are held at the McCune Founder's Room at The Granada.